Disney Girls in Real Life by Jirka Väätäinen

Remember, Envisioning Disney Guys in Real Life? Well, this series of Disney Girls in Real Life is where it all started. Graphic Designer Jirka Väätäinen made it possible by photo compositing and digital painting combined to create “real life” versions of Disney Characters.

One day (back in 2011) I just randomly thought I’d challenge myself and have a little fun in Photoshop to explore what the character of Ursula from the Little Mermaid could look like in real life. Having grown up with a lot of these characters, the sense of nostalgia made it such a fascinating and a fun personal project to explore and carry on with. Also, I have always been interested in character design, as well as the way people look and what makes them unique in their appearances.

-Jirka Väätäinen

So I was inspired by the idea of recreating these characters that we all know and love, in a way I would imagine them to look like if they were “more real,” while still staying somewhat true to the unrealistic quirks in their original character designs. Since the project gained so much attention, I felt it was appropriate to continue to expand on the project ever since.

-Jirka Väätäinen

I have never thought about myself as a creative with just one particular style I could fit under. I like to explore different techniques and styles. And in my profession, it is important to find a right style and way of communicating to meet the client’s needs. I haven’t got just one favourite character.

-Jirka Väätäinen

I would just suggest everyone to have fun and find ou what the things are that you genuinely enjoy doing – and hopefully that passion will be reflected in your work as well!
-Jirka Väätäinen

About Jirka Väätäinen

Jirka Väätäinen is a 25-year-old guy, he was born and raised in Finland. He studied abroad in the UK (Arts University Bournemouth – graphic design graduate). Jirka has been working as a graphic designer, mostly in advertising (and in Helsinki) since he graduated in 2012. Since the beginning of 2015 he has been based in Melbourne Australia where he’s planning to spend the rest of the year freelancing. See more of his work at Behance or his website.

3 Comments

Oh wow – these are all incredible! All of them are amazing, but I’m really really impressed by Ursula most of all. With the other characters, it’s a little bit easier to envision them as “real,” but with someone like Ursula it’s pretty hard to imagine. So to see this depiction of her is really eye opening!